The
European Broadcasting UnionEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU; French: Union européenne de
radio-télévision, UER) is an alliance of public service media
organisations, established on 12 February 1950. The organisation is
made up of 73 Members in 56 countries,[2] and 34 Associate Members
from a further 20 countries.[3] It is best known for producing the
Eurovision Song Contest. It also hosted debates between candidates for
the
European CommissionEuropean Commission presidency for the 2014 parliamentary
elections but is unrelated to the institution itself.[4]

The classic opening ident that preceded all Eurovision network
transmissions until 1993. The logotypes of both the sending and
receiving company were shown in the middle. The pattern around the
middle is based on the Flag of Europe. This sample shows the old logo
of the BBC.

EBU Members are public service broadcasters whose output is made,
financed and controlled by the public, for the public. PSM
broadcasters are often established by law but are non-partisan,
independent and run for the benefit of society as a whole.
EBU Members come from as far north as
IcelandIceland and as far south as
Egypt, from Ireland in the west and
AzerbaijanAzerbaijan in the east, and almost
every nation from geographical Europe in between. Associate Members
are from countries and territories beyond Europe, such as Canada,
Japan, Mexico, India, and Hong Kong. Associate Members from the United
States include ABC, CBS, NBC, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
and the only individual station, Chicago-based classical music station
WFMT.[citation needed]
Membership is for media organisations whose countries are within the
European Broadcasting AreaEuropean Broadcasting Area (EBA), as defined by the International
TelecommunicationTelecommunication Union, or who are members of the Council of
Europe.[5]
Members benefit from:

Access to world-class content ranging from exclusive sports rights to
exchanges for news, music and children's programmes
A voice in Brussels and on international platforms lobbying for PSM
and ensuring the optimal legal and technical framework
Opportunities for sharing, learning and collaborating through
conferences, working groups, training and dedicated advice and
guidance
A centre for learning and sharing new technology and innovation with a
team of experts providing strategic advice and guidance.

The EBU's highest profile production is the Eurovision Song Contest.
The EBU also organises the Eurovision Dance Contest, the Junior
Eurovision Song Contest, the
Eurovision Young DancersEurovision Young Dancers competition, and
other competitions which are modelled along similar lines.
Radio collaborations include
Euroclassic Notturno – an overnight
classical music stream, produced by
BBCBBC Radio 3 and broadcast in the
United KingdomUnited Kingdom as Through the Night – and special theme days, such
as the annual Christmas music relays from around Europe.[6] The EBU is
a member of the International Music Council.
Most EBU broadcasters have group deals to carry major sporting events
including the
FIFA World CupFIFA World Cup and the inaugural European Championships.
Another annually recurring event which is broadcast across Europe
through the EBU is the Vienna New Year's Concert.[7]
Eurovision Media Services is the business arm of the EBU and provides
first class media services for many media organisations and sport
federations around the world.
The theme music played before EBU broadcasts is Marc-Antoine
Charpentier's Prelude to Te Deum. It is well known to Europeans as it
is played before and after the
Eurovision Song ContestEurovision Song Contest and other
important events.[8]
History[edit]

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this
section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material
may be challenged and removed. (October 2016) (Learn how and when to
remove this template message)

EBU logo used from 1993 to 2012.

The EBU was a successor to the
International Broadcasting UnionInternational Broadcasting Union (IBU)
that was founded in 1925 and had its administrative headquarters in
GenevaGeneva and technical office in Brussels. It fostered programming
exchanges between members and mediated technical disputes between
members that were mostly concerned with frequency and interference
issues. It was in effect taken over by
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany during the Second
World War and when the conflict ended in the eyes of the Allies it was
a compromised organisation that they could not trust.
In the spring of 1946, representatives of the Soviet radio committee
proposed forming a new organisation; however, at the same time
preparations were being made for an inter-governmental “European
Broadcasting Conference” (EBC) in
CopenhagenCopenhagen in 1948 to draw up a
new plan for frequency use in the
European Broadcasting AreaEuropean Broadcasting Area (EBA). It
was considered necessary to have an organisation that could implement
the “
CopenhagenCopenhagen Wavelength Plan” but there was disagreement among
broadcasters and particularly a fear expressed by the
BBCBBC that a new
association might be dominated by the USSR and its proposal to give
each of its constituent states one vote.
FranceFrance proposed that it would
have four votes with the inclusion of its North African colonies.
Great Britain felt it would have little influence with just one vote.
On 27 June 1946 the alternative International Broadcasting
Organisation (IBO) was founded with 26 members and without British
participation. The following day the IBU met in General Assembly and
an attempt was made to dissolve it but failed; though 18 of its 28
members left to join the IBO.[9] For a period of time in the late
1940s both the IBU and IBO vied for the role of organising frequencies
but Britain decided to be in involved in neither. The
BBCBBC attempted
but failed to find suitable working arrangements with them. However,
for practical purposes the IBO rented the IBU technical centre in
Brussels and employed its staff. The
BBCBBC then proposed a new solution
based on the IBO changing its constitution so there will be only one
member per
ITUITU country, thus ensuring a Western majority over the USSR
and its satellite states. In August 1949 a meeting took place in
Stresa,
ItalyItaly but it resulted in disagreement between delegates on how
to resolve the problems. One proposal was for the European
Broadcasting Area to be replaced by one that would exclude Eastern
Europe, the
LevantLevant and North Africa.
After Stresa, a consensus emerged among the Western Europeans to form
a new organisation and the
BBCBBC proposed it be based in London.
Meetings in Paris on 31 October and 1 November 1949 sealed the fate of
the IBU and IBO, but it was decided not to allow
West GermanyWest Germany to be a
founder of the new organisation. On 13 February 1950 the European
Broadcasting Union had its first meeting with 23 members from the ITU
defined
European Broadcasting AreaEuropean Broadcasting Area at the Imperial Hotel in Torquay,
England. The first president was Ian Jacob of the
BBCBBC who remained at
the helm for 10 years while its operation was largely dominated by the
BBCBBC due to its financial, technical and staff input. The most
important difference between the EBU and its predecessors was that EBU
membership was for broadcasters and not governments. Early delegates
said EBU meetings were cordial and professional and very different
from the abrupt tone of its predecessors.
West GermanyWest Germany was admitted in
1951 and a working relationship forged with the USSR’s Organisation
for International Radio and TV (OIRT) which existed in parallel with
the EBU until its merger in 1993. (Source: Diffusion, Journal of the
EBU, ‘50 years of the EBU’, Winter 1999/2000 [9]).
In 1967 the first concert in the International Concert Season of the
European Broadcasting UnionEuropean Broadcasting Union was broadcast from the Queen Elizabeth
Hall in London.[10]
Technical activities[edit]
The objective of the EBU's technical activities is simply to assist
EBU Members (see below) in this period of unprecedented technological
changes. This includes provision of technical information to Members
via conferences and workshops, as well as in written form (such as the
EBU Technical Review, and the EBU tech-i magazine).
The EBU also encourages active collaboration between its Members on
the basis that they can freely share their knowledge and experience,
thus achieving considerably more than individual Members could achieve
by themselves. Much of this collaboration is achieved through Project
Groups which study specific technical issues of common interest: for
example, EBU Members have long been preparing for the revision of the
1961 Stockholm Plan.
The EBU places great emphasis on the use of open standards. Widespread
use of open standards (such as MPEG-2, DAB, DVB, etc.) ensures
interoperability between products from different vendors, as well as
facilitating the exchange of programme material between EBU Members
and promoting "horizontal markets" for the benefit of all consumers.
EBU Members and the EBU Technical Department have long played an
important role in the development of many systems used in radio and
television broadcasting, such as:

The EBU has also actively encouraged the development and
implementation of:

Digital Audio BroadcastingDigital Audio Broadcasting (DAB) through Eureka Project 147 and the
WorldDAB Forum;
Digital Video BroadcastingDigital Video Broadcasting (DVB) through the DVB Project and DigiTAG;
Digital radio in the bands currently used for AM broadcasting through
DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale);
Standardisation of PVR systems through the
TV-Anytime Forum.
Development of other content distribution networks on the internet
through P2PTV; EBU Project Group D/P2P, from November 2007 to April
2008, with a trial of selected member channels, thanks to Octoshape's
distribution platform.[11] The EBU is also part of the European
P2P-Next project.

Greek state broadcaster controversy of 2013[edit]
On 11 June 2013, the Greek government shut down the state broadcaster
ERT, at short notice, citing government spending concerns related to
the Euro crisis.[12] In response, the
European Broadcasting UnionEuropean Broadcasting Union set
up a makeshift studio on the same day, near the former ERT offices in
Athens, in order to continue providing EBU Members with the
news-gathering and broadcast relay services which had formerly been
provided by ERT.[13]
The EBU put out a statement expressing its "profound dismay" at the
shutdown, urged the Greek Prime Minister "to use all his powers to
immediately reverse this decision" and offered the "advice, assistance
and expertise necessary for ERT to be preserved".[14]
Starting on 4 May 2014, the New Hellenic Radio,
InternetInternet and
Television (NERIT) broadcaster began nationwide transmissions, taking
over ERT's vacant active membership slot in the EBU.[citation needed]
On 11 June 2015, two years after ERT's closure, Nerit SA closed and
ERT SA reopened with a comprehensive program in all radio stations
(with 19 regional radio stations, 2 world-Range, and 5 the Panhellenic
range) and four TV channels
ERT1ERT1ERT2ERT2ERT3ERT3 and ERT HD.
Members[edit]

Countries with active EBU membership coloured in order of accession
from 1950.

The Member list as of January 2018, comprises the following 73
broadcasting companies from 56 countries.[15]

SerbiaSerbia and Montenegro
Alliance of Public Radio and Television
UJRT
2001
2006

Slovakia
Slovenský rozhlas
SRo
1993
2011

Slovenská televízia
STV

Spain
Antena 3 Radio
A3R
1986
1993

Yugoslavia
Yugoslav Radio Television
JRT
1950
1992

Associate Members[edit]

Countries with Associate EBU Membership.

Any group or organisation from an International Telecommunication
Union (ITU) member country, which provide a radio or television
service outside of the European Broadcasting Area, are permitted to
submit applications to the EBU for Associate Membership. Countries
which have this status also pay an annual fee to maintain this status.
It was also noted by the EBU that any country that is granted
Associate Member status does not include any access into the
Eurovision events.[17]
The list of Associate Members of EBU, comprised the following 34
broadcasting companies from 21 countries as of January 2018.[3]

Approved participant members[edit]
Any groups or organisations from a country with International
TelecommunicationTelecommunication Union (ITU) membership, which do not qualify for
either the EBU's Active or Associate memberships, but still provide a
broadcasting activity for the EBU, are granted a unique Approved
Participants membership, which lasts approximately five years. An
application for this status may be submitted to the EBU at any given
time, providing an annual fee is paid.[19]
The following seven EBU broadcast members had status as Approved
Participants in May 2016.[20]

Broadcasting organisation
Abbr.

Arte
ARTE

Catalunya Música
CAT

Euronews
EURONEWS

JP MRD
JP MRD

Cellnex Telecom
CELLNEX

Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network
RTRN

TV5Monde
TV5

Organised events[edit]
The EBU in co-operation with the respective host broadcaster,
organises competitions and events in which its Members can
participate, if they wish to do so. These include:
Eurovision Song Contest[edit]
Main article: Eurovision Song Contest
The
Eurovision Song ContestEurovision Song Contest (French: Concours Eurovision de la
Chanson)[21] is an annual international song competition between EBU
Members, that was first held in Lugano, Switzerland, on 24 May 1956.
Seven countries participated – each submitting two songs, for a
total of 14. This was the only contest in which more than one song per
country was performed: since 1957 all contests have allowed one entry
per country. The 1956 contest was won by the host nation,
Switzerland.[22] The most recent winner was
PortugalPortugal and the most
recent host city was Kiev.
Let the Peoples Sing[edit]
Main article: Let the Peoples Sing
Let the Peoples Sing is a biennial choir competition, the participants
of which are chosen from radio recordings entered by EBU radio
members. The final, encompassing three categories and around ten
choirs, is offered as a live broadcast to all EBU members. The overall
winner is awarded the Silver Rose Bowl.
Jeux Sans Frontières[edit]
Main article: Jeux Sans Frontières
Jeux Sans FrontièresJeux Sans Frontières (English: Games Without Frontiers, or Games
Without Borders) was a Europe-wide television game show. In its
original conception, it was broadcast from 1965 to 1999 under the
auspices of the EBU. The original series run ended in 1982 but was
revived in 1988 with a different complexion of nations and was hosted
by smaller broadcasters.
Eurovision Young Musicians[edit]
Main article: Eurovision Young Musicians
Eurovision Young MusiciansEurovision Young Musicians is a competition for European musicians
that are between the ages of 12 and 21 years old. It is organised by
the EBU and is a member of EMCY. The first competition was held in
Manchester,
United KingdomUnited Kingdom on 11 May 1982.
The televised competition is held every two years, with some countries
holding national heats. Since its foundation in 1982, the Eurovision
Young Musicians competition has become one of the most important music
competitions on an international level.
Eurovision Young Dancers[edit]
Main article: Eurovision Young Dancers
The
Eurovision Young DancersEurovision Young Dancers is a biennial dance showcase broadcast on
television throughout Europe. The first competition was held in Reggio
Emilia,
ItalyItaly on 16 June 1985.
It uses a format similar to the Eurovision Song Contest, every country
that is a member of the EBU has had the opportunity to send a dance
act to compete for the title of "Eurovision Young Dancer". The
competition is for solo dancers and all contestants must be between
the ages of 16 and 21 years and not professionally engaged.
Euroclassic Notturno[edit]
Main article: Euroclassic Notturno
Euroclassic Notturno is a six-hour sequence of classical music
recordings assembled by
BBCBBC Radio from material supplied by members of
the EBU and streamed back to those broadcasters by satellite for use
in their overnight classical-music schedules. The recordings used are
taken not from commercial CDs but from earlier (usually live) radio
broadcasts.[23][24]
Junior Eurovision Song Contest[edit]
Main article: Junior Eurovision Song Contest
Junior
Eurovision Song ContestEurovision Song Contest (French: Concours Eurovision de la
Chanson Junior),[25] is an annual international song competition, that
was first held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 15 November 2003. Sixteen
countries participated – each submitting one song, for a total of 16
entries. The 2003 Contest was won by
CroatiaCroatia and the current winner is
Russia. The first host city was
CopenhagenCopenhagen (2003) and the most recent
is
TbilisiTbilisi (2017).
Eurovision Dance Contest[edit]
Main article: Eurovision Dance Contest
The
Eurovision Dance ContestEurovision Dance Contest (not to be confused with the Eurovision
Young Dancers Competition) was an international dancing competition
that was held for the first time in London,
United KingdomUnited Kingdom on 1
September 2007. The competition was repeated in 2008 when it was held
in Glasgow, United Kingdom, but has not been held since.
Eurovision Magic Circus Show[edit]
Main article: Eurovision Magic Circus Show
The Eurovision Magic Circus Show was an entertainment show organised
by the EBU, which took place in 2010, 2011 and 2012 in Geneva.
Children aged between 7-14 representing 8 countries within the EBU
membership area, performed a variety of circus acts at the Geneva
Christmas Circus (French: Cirque de Noël Genève). The main show was
also accompanied by the Magic Circus Show Orchestra.[26]
Eurovision Choir of the Year[edit]
Main article: Eurovision Choir of the Year
The inaugural
Eurovision Choir of the YearEurovision Choir of the Year featuring non-professional
choirs selected by EBU Members, took place on 22 July 2017 in Riga,
hosted by the Latvian broadcaster
Latvijas TelevīzijaLatvijas Televīzija (LTV). 9
countries took part in the first edition. Carmen Manet from Slovenia
were the first winners.
European Sports Championships[edit]
Main article: European Sports Championships
The
European Sports ChampionshipsEuropean Sports Championships is a multi-sport event involving
some of the leading sports in Europe. The European Governing Bodies
for athletics, acquatics, cycling, rowing, golf, gymnastics and
triathlon, will co-ordinate their individual championships as part of
the first edition[27] in the summer of 2018, hosted by the cities of
BerlinBerlin (already chosen as the host for the 2018 European Athletics
Championships) and
GlasgowGlasgow (already chosen as the host for the 2018
European Aquatics Championships, and which will now also host the
events of the other sports).[28][29]
See also[edit]